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Nokia, Microsoft complete handset deal

Nokia on Friday completed the sale of its handset business to software giant Microsoft, keeping the Chennai manufacturing plant, one of its largest facilities, out of the deal.

The Finnish handset maker expects the value of the transaction, which was completed after a month’s delay, to be slightly higher than the earlier announced 5.44 billion euros (about USD 7.2 billion) after final adjustments based on the verified closing balance sheet, Nokia said in a statement.

Welcoming the completion of the deal, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reiterated the focus of the Redmond-headquartered firm on a “mobile-first, cloud-first world,” according to a statement from the US company.

“With the Nokia mobile phone business, Microsoft will target the affordable mobile devices market, a USD 50 billion annual opportunity,” it said.

Nokia said the Chennai manufacturing plant will manufacture devices for Microsoft under a service agreement.

“In India, our manufacturing facility is subject to an asset freeze by the Indian tax authorities as a result of ongoing tax proceedings. Consequently, the facility remains part of Nokia following the closing of the transaction. Nokia and Microsoft have entered into a service agreement whereby Nokia would produce mobile devices for Microsoft,” it said.

The deal also excludes Nokia’s plant in Masan, South Korea, which has about 200 employees and will be closed.

“Amid the uncertainty for our employees in Chennai and because of the planned closure of our facility in Masan, Nokia plans to offer a programme of support, including financial assistance, which would give our employees the chance to explore opportunities outside Nokia starting from a sound financial base.

“The company plans to bring to Chennai and Masan elements of its Bridge program, which we have made available for employees affected by company changes in other sites,” the firm added.

“Today we welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business to our family. The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation,” Mr. Nadella said.

Former Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop will serve as executive vice-president of Microsoft Devices Group and report to Mr. Nadella.

Microsoft will honour all Nokia customer warranties for existing devices, beginning April 25. It will absorb about 25,000 employees, who will be transferred globally from Nokia.

According to reports, Nokia may name India-born Rajeev Suri as its next CEO and outline a new strategy focussed on network equipment business on April 29.

Finch, Warner power Hyderabad to 184/1

Aaron Finch (88) and David Warner (58) broke through the shackles with a facile unbeaten fifties as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted an impressive 184 for one in their IPL match against the Delhi Daredevils in Dubai on Friday.

Hyderabad were stifled in the first half of the match before Finch and Warner put up an 128-run partnership to infuse life into their team’s effort which looked ordinary to start with.

Delhi, boosted by the return of their regular captain Kevin Pietersen, put up a decent performance with the ball in the first 10 overs with spinner Shahbaz Nadeem producing economical figures of 4-0-24-1.

However, Finch and Warner broke through following the dismissal of Hyderabad skipper Shikhar Dawan (33) to steer the team to a formidable total.

The Australian pair put together an unbroken second wicket stand, which came off 82 deliveries.

Finch was the more destructive of the two, smacking Jaydev Unadkat for 18 runs in just four deliveries of the 18th over, which yielded 21 in all. Unadkat was, in fact, the most expensive Delhi bowler, conceding 43 runs in his four barren overs.

In fact, barring Nadeem, all of Delhi’s bowlers came in for severe thrashing with strike pacer Mohammed Shami ending up with figures of 0/36 in his four overs.

Dhawan and Finch gave Hyderabad a steady start by collecting 56 runs for the first wicket. Even though the pace of scoring was not too high but it set the platform for Finch and Warner to go on a rampage.

While Finch struck eight fours and four sixes, Warner smashed three boundaries and an equal number of hits over the fence

REVIEW 2 States: Tiresome stereotype

Cultural differences between the families often play spoilsport in Bollywood love stories. We have come a long way from the dramatic spell and tragic swell of Ek Duje Ke Liye; with young graduates travelling to different parts of the country to study and work, our novels and films have begun to find possible love stories in this aspirational shift. Here the makers are trying to suggest that the urbane young guns have become inclusive but their parents are still stuck to the roots. Earlier this year we saw a similar, if smaller, conflict in another Dharma production Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. Gori remains the operative word here as well. The casting has been done accordingly. Alia Bhatt plays a Tamilian Brahmin without any effort to sound like one but Revathy is cast as her mother to make the mood palatable.

The girl from the conservative background can eat chicken and wear shorts and the Punjabi boy tries hard to rein in his hormones but their parents are not ready to rise above the regional barriers. No, they don’t employ musclemen, nor do they bring in emotional blackmail into play. They just keep waiting for the director to iron out the stereotypes he has in mind about them.

Based on Chetan Bhagat’s semi-autobiographical novel, director Abhishek Varman has managed to retain the Bhagat flavour. It is light, frothy but constantly trying to be profound. When it starts with the protagonist telling his history to a psychiatrist, you can sense the halo!

Unlike the novel, the film glosses over the romance and settles for a long game of demolishing the brackets in a mechanical fashion. It is a kind of film that never comes to the boiling point. It keeps rumbling and rambling without adding much to the dialogue apart from a couple of interesting observations.

Ananya, the girl from Mylapore and Krish, the Malhotra boy from Delhi meet at IIM campus. Varman seems to have assumed that his audience will come after reading the book. Without spending much time on establishing the atmospherics of romance and academics he comes to the point. The boy goes to Chennai to win over the girl’s Tamilian parents and in return the girl tries to woo the Punjabi mother of Kris.

Varman’s belief that his audience still believe in the novelty of the theme becomes irksome. He keeps recycling the community-centric jokes. Some make you chuckle but many make you cringe. He fails to recognise the fact that Chetan’s duo went to IIM in 1995. It has been two decades since then and in the meanwhile the demographic profile of the country has changed considerably. The remarks on skin colour and dowry seem rather flimsy particularly when he has the likes of Revathy and Shiv Subramanium playing the parents in a credible setting.

The film gathers its emotional heft in the second half when the relationship between Kris and his damaged father (Ronit Roy) unravels. Amrita Singh plays a vital cog in the wheel as the suffering wife and the overprotective mother. It is an interesting patch where the son starts filling in the vacuum created by the father and in the process suffers. Alia and Arjun make an interesting pair on screen. For a change we have a couple which doesn’t start looking like brother and sister after a few reels. Arjun finally gets a role where he has to explore the vulnerability of the character without any props and he doesn’t disappoint. It is their natural charm, particularly Alia’s effortless approach that makes you invest in their relationship despite the fact that the narrative unfolds in a soap operatic tone.

Genre: Drama

Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Revathy, Shiv Subramanium

Plot: A Tamil girl falls in love with a Punjabi boy but they decide to marry only when their parents will bless them.